Voices of Youth Count

"Understanding the composition of
the homeless population is critical
to informing both prevention and
intervention efforts. "

— California Homeless Youth Project

VOICES OF YOUTH COUNT

Voices of Youth Count (VoYC) is a national initiative designed to fill gaps in the nation’s knowledge about the scope and scale of youth homelessness, as well as the life circumstances and experiences of runaway, unaccompanied homeless and unstably housed youth between the ages of 13 and 25 years old.

The long term goal of VoYC is to contribute to preventing and ending youth homelessness in America by building new knowledge, linking it with existing evidence and data, and connecting with those who shape policy, design programs and deliver services – all with meaningful youth guidance and engagement.

VoYC is committed to widely and effectively disseminating its methods, findings and recommendations to support ongoing efforts from and on behalf of the field working to prevent and end youth homelessness.

OUR VALUES

Voices of Youth Count is grounded in a set of agreed-upon values.

As indicated in our name – Voices of Youth Count – youth participation is central to our work.

Transparency, integrated use of consistent, rigorous and mixed research methods, openness to broad community participation, authentic blending of diverse perspectives, and a commitment to relevance are also fundamental to VoYC.

Together these values allow VoYC to discover and integrate rigorously developed knowledge, provide tailored and practical tools, and aim for positive change.

THE QUESTIONS

Voices of Youth Count is guided by a series of important research and policy questions. While there are other questions the field struggles to answer, this effort will focus on these, which will help us better meet our goal of compelling action by connecting research to policy and practice.

In what ways are the experiences of runaway,unaccompanied homeless and unstably housed youthinfluenced by local, state and federal policies?

What services do runaway, unaccompanied homeless youth use andwhat services are likely to lead to better life outcomes?

What factors are associated with how often and how longyouth are homeless, unstably housed, or run away from home?

How do runaway, unaccompanied homeless and unstablyhoused youth survive? How are they faring?

Why do youth run away, become homeless, or experience housing instability?

How many runaway, unaccompanied homeless and unstably housed youthare there? What are their characteristics?

Contact Us

Have questions, or want to connect with us? Send us an email and we'll get back to you, asap.